A Ray of Light

Osana surveyed her surroundings; what met her eyes was a massive construction site.

The territory of the Planetary Governor, the "Land of Redemption" proclaimed by those kind-hearted people, seemed quite different from what she had imagined.

After the last winter ended, Osana's hometown—a place known to the people of Revival City as the Southern Provinces—was struck by a massive wave of mutated monsters.

It was a colossal disaster, and many settlements were completely destroyed.

They had barely managed to survive the surge of mutant monsters, but that did not mean the disaster had subsided.

There was no time to sow seeds in the spring, and having endured a long winter and fought against alien monsters... various factors left the people with a severe shortage of food reserves. Hunger and material scarcity plagued the Southern Provinces.

What would people who could no longer survive do?

They would turn into demons.

Osana and her younger brother had once lived a very comfortable life. The land in the Southern Provinces was relatively fertile, and the erosion caused by the Wasteland Energy Storm was comparatively mild, so many settlements there could make a living through agriculture. In fact, the Southern Provinces were originally a vital grain-producing region; the hundreds of thousands of people in Revival City, both in the inner and outer cities, relied primarily on grain imported from the south.

Osana's father was a plantation owner. Before everything collapsed, their plantation had a population of over ten thousand. During bountiful harvests, they could not only feed everyone but also had a large surplus to sell in exchange for industrial goods.

It is easy to imagine that Osana's standard of living was like that of a little princess, far exceeding the vast majority of people on this wasteland.

But all of this collapsed at the turn of spring and summer.

A massive number of external raiders besieged the plantation; then, a riot broke out from within.

Protected by guards, her family tried to break through the encirclement at the last moment to escape the plantation. Many others who had not participated in the riots also attempted to flee with them.

But in the chaos of war, she was separated from her father.

Changing her name, smearing ash on her face, cutting her hair...

She took her brother and followed a group of refugees, arriving at Revival City in a daze.

Along the way, she suffered too much hardship.

For a bite to eat, she was willing to do anything; even the smallest job would suffice if it could be traded for a little food. Worse still, she had to beg, fight tooth and nail, steal, and deceive others...

Before everything fell apart, she had been taught to be a proper lady; she had never imagined she would end up like this.

But she persisted.

For these past few months, she had been dizzy with hunger, and her brother, who had just turned ten, was severely malnourished.

But at least, they were both still alive.

However, she often fell into confusion.

If one had never witnessed beauty, perhaps one could sink into the darkness forever. But just a few months ago, she was still a little princess, the apple of her father's eye, spending her days worrying about the appraisal and restoration of expensive pre-war artifacts, or helping her father manage the estate and calculate accounts.

Now, she had to hesitate over what to eat tomorrow.

More importantly, there was no end in sight to such a life; there was no hope, not a glimmer of light.

She felt she could not hold on much longer.

She had thought more than once: living in such a terrible world, would it be easier to just die?

But every time she looked into her brother's eyes, she would shove that thought away, grit her teeth, and continue to suffer through it.

It was strange to say, but in the past, she hadn't been very close to her brother, who was seven years her junior, and often felt that the mischievous little brat was truly annoying.

However, during these past few months, she would rather die than leave him behind. Once, when he was abducted, she had bitten the kidnapper like a madwoman, refusing to let go even after being beaten until her head was covered in blood.

She didn't know why herself; she only knew that whoever dared to harm the only family she had left, she would fight them to the death.

But she still understood with sorrow that they were about to run out of ways to survive.

The chaos in the Southern Provinces had a massive impact. Insufficient grain imports caused the price of food in Revival City to rise continuously. Relying on odd jobs, it became increasingly difficult for her to fill her own stomach and her brother's.

Recently, even worse news arrived: it was said that the largest grain merchant in Revival City had gone missing. Immediately after, the city's grain prices became even more volatile.

It was at this time that a merchant opened a free porridge stall in the slums outside Revival City.

Anyone could receive a bowl of hot porridge at the stall, provided they listened to the entire declaration made by the Planetary Governor, Gu Hang, on his first day arriving in the wasteland.

She had gotten into a fight with someone just to secure a spot for herself and her brother.

The so-called declaration of the Governor was quite long; at the time, she only wanted them to finish reading so she could eat, so she didn't remember much of what it actually said.

Only one sentence she remembered clearly: the Governor would ensure that everyone who submitted to him could live a good life.

The next day, the porridge stall was still open, and she went again. But this time, she was told that those who had eaten once were not allowed to eat again unless they were willing to join the caravan, travel to the Governor's Camp, and become his subjects.

She didn't hesitate long before pressing her thumbprint on the paper.

After waiting a few days, when the caravan set off, she and her brother came here together.

Following the caravan to the Governor's Camp was certainly driven by the necessity of survival, but was there not also a desire to change their situation and seek some light and hope?

She had expected to see a fairly well-developed city, but instead, she saw vast stretches of dust. There were quite a few simple concrete buildings already erected, but many more were still under construction.

However, looking at the bustling construction throughout the camp, at least there shouldn't be a shortage of job opportunities.

But could someone with her small frame work as a construction laborer?

With her mind in a whirl, not knowing what the future held, Osana held her brother's hand and followed the queue to the registration area.

When it was her turn, the person registering asked for some basic information.

Name, age, areas of expertise, what you want to do...

She answered according to the facts.

"Huh?" the person handling the registration across from her suddenly spoke up, "You can read?"

"Uh... yes."

"That's great!" the person was overjoyed, "Go over to that table and fill out another form. Congratulations, you're going to get a pretty good deal."

Osana walked over, feeling completely confused.

There was hardly anyone at that table.

After she finished filling out the form, she was assigned two tasks: working as a clerk for the soon-to-be-established textile factory during the day, where she would arrange and execute production plans, calculate production results, and manage the production workflow...

The second task was to serve as a teacher for the night school literacy class.

The nature of the work put her mind at ease. These were things she was truly good at; back at the manor, she used to assist her father with some management duties. Although that was agricultural management and this was for a textile factory, it was still something she was far better at than manual labor.

She was even more tempted after hearing about the compensation.

According to the work-point calculation system, the daily supply of goods she would receive would be more than enough to support herself and her younger brother, with plenty left over to save.

Although it couldn't compare to her life as a little princess in the past, it was the only ray of light she had seen during her months of wandering.